Black XXVI: "Hanoi John!!"

Still working on it.

741 posted on 05/22/2004 9:32:25 PM PDT by First_Salute (May God save our democratic-republican government, from a government by judiciary.)

To: joanie-f; snopercod; Alamo-Girl; Ragtime Cowgirl; harpo11; JeanS; barkingjake; redrock; brityank; ..

For the most part, I have quit FR, but from time to time, I am going to come back here, and some times, to this page, with a thought or two or more.

I first discovered FR back around the time of its beginning, doing searches via Alta Vista, before Alta Vista went politically correct, and of course, before Google (and Google's subsequently also going politically correct).

I had an interest in establishing a conservative media base, and while searching on topics, I would occasionally find some info here at FR, via news reports "relayed" to this website.

Recently, I was looking over some of the notes on my development of The Reagan Democrat, and I found in them, some of the news items that trace back to chance search engine results located here.

I was not a routine follower of FR, until search results on the William J. Clinton Impeachment before the Congress, repeatedly indicated that news updates could be found at FR.

At that point, I began a separate directory for storing FR pages. (As John knows, I have a large database including those that the FR thought police have deleted.)

I have now stopped adding to that database, except for a few worthy news posts and your comments and John's comments and some others'.

I have been unkind to Hillary Clinton, because she represents tyrannical fascist socialism in its garden variety format arranged for to titilate women and women syncophants in mens' clothing, so to speak.

Otherwise, I have tried to maintain some conduct becoming an officer and a gentlemen, and I have, therefore, avoided the use of the words "you" and "your" and "yours" in my thousands of replies, because I have not wished to fight with anybody for the purpose of satisfying their instincts.

They said what they had to say; I said what I had to say; further replies punctuated with the word "you" are of nor more importance, 9 times out of 10, so I have always elected to not reply.

I have kept my mind on being productive. I have worked toward trying to write well, and argue well, and make tools and tooling with which others can too, and thereby fight on the good fight.

I am incredibly fortunate to say, that I was born with God in my heart.

I believe that what has helped me, has been the fortunes of my foundations, my mother and father, God, country, and people who will dare to stand up for liberty.

Where some people have decided that I have failed, I believe that you will find I have been tired, exhausted, and therefore unable to respond to their wishes, much more than any, if ever, disposition to ignore them.

Please forgive me and my mistakes.

The creator of a horseshoe, forges it to be a good horseshoe. There is no purpose in making a bad horseshoe.

If you forge a horseshoe and hammer it onto a horse's hoof, it will be tested.

While horseshoes on the barn door just hang around observing what is going on inside the barn, what is going on outside the barn, and largely speculating on the world that is within range of the barn.

Some are OK with that. They will not venture forth because in advance --- they desire to know their fate --- they oppose the test because they insist that from the start the shoe must fit perfectly.

"Something must be done about it."

So they wait, and they like having company of the untried horseshoe community on the barn door, the more horseshoes clanging and hanging around the barn door, the merrier, where everything appears to come to them, and appears to go from them, but life remains beyond their reach --- they say that they are "excluded," about which, there is much, much noise.

They like to be seen; they want to be seen; they like to be heard; they want to be heard ... but they don't want to be tested.

Their "life" is a media circus of the untested; it is very entertaining.

Yet, they fashion themselves to be experts on how the shoes fit among those that are trying; it is very entertaining.

They overlook that life is a test --- for those who apply themselves --- in contrast to the view in their community that it's all about clanging and banging and hanging with their "like minded" ... well, kind of has a ring to it.

When truth is, that no shoe is perfect, and the challenge is, to go forth and try to adhere to the path anyway. You may not amble along very well, but life is a test of what effort you will make of it, adhering to "the straight line," George Washington's reply to a question about, what was the secret of his success.

742 posted on 05/25/2004 12:00:05 PM PDT by First_Salute (May God save our democratic-republican government, from a government by judiciary.)

To: First_Salute

Thanks for the ping, First_Salute.

Good essay.

Some of us stray off the path, often, and are very grateful - and blessed to have both His mercy new every day - and able, faithful FRiends tuned in to the CHIEF Commander-in-Chief.

743 posted on 05/25/2004 12:24:48 PM PDT by Ragtime Cowgirl

Just so you have faith and pride in your fellow-Freeper allies, you should know we usually find the good stuff early, and spread the word.

Letters from the front - blogs - without titles, make searches difficult.

Google search: "Free Republic", Chontosh.

Though, imho, dups at FR of good stuff - good idea, lol.

Hoo ah! (^:

744 posted on 05/25/2004 12:31:40 PM PDT by Ragtime Cowgirl

To: Ragtime Cowgirl

"...we usually find the good stuff early, and spread the word."

Yep...and you've done yeoman's work in documenting much of the good our soldiers are doing overseas...thanks fer keeping it up!!

FReegards...MUD

745 posted on 05/25/2004 12:39:58 PM PDT by Mudboy Slim (RE-IMPEACH Osama bil Clinton!!)

To: Ragtime Cowgirl

"...we usually find the good stuff early, and spread the word."

Yep...and you've done yeoman's work in documenting much of the good our soldiers are doing overseas...thanks fer keeping it up!!

FReegards...MUD

746 posted on 05/25/2004 12:40:23 PM PDT by Mudboy Slim (RE-IMPEACH Osama bil Clinton!!)

To: Ragtime Cowgirl

"...we usually find the good stuff early, and spread the word."

Yep...and you've done yeoman's work in documenting much of the good our soldiers are doing overseas...thanks fer keeping it up!!

FReegards...MUD

747 posted on 05/25/2004 12:40:23 PM PDT by Mudboy Slim (RE-IMPEACH Osama bil Clinton!!)

To: First_Salute

In my youth, I thought I was the rider.

Later, I realized I was only the horse. But I was a good horse: Strong and swift, with lots of heart.

Then, as I got older I checked my premises and realized that I was merely the horseshoe, being used by others to attain their goals, not mine.

I tried to be a good horseshoe, but now I see that I am being hung up on the barn door.

I don't feel like I was done riding yet, but I hope I can bring good luck to all those who enter the barn.

748 posted on 05/25/2004 3:12:36 PM PDT by snopercod (Freedom can be preserved only if it is treated as a supreme principle which must not be sacrificed)

To: First_Salute

A good friend of mine is suffering from a terminal illness. She is in her mid-forties, and, as a result of her deteriorating condition, she has suffered two mini-strokes in the past month. I spend two mornings a week with her, helping with chores around the house, and simply talking/listening, when she has the energy to do so.

We’ve had some pretty heart-rending conversations. Among the most touching things she has said – more than once – is that she wishes she had been more courageous when she was well. That she believes she spent way too much time simply accepting that ‘that’s the way things are in this world’ – when she might have been able to be a force for change, had she ‘stepped out of her cocoon’ (her words) and tested her wings, and her voice.

She is concerned about not being there for her children, in a world in which every day becomes more menacing than the one before. And she is experiencing a type of guilt because she feels that she has not done her part to affect changes for the better (in our own community, and beyond). She believes that, in that way, she has let her children down. I don’t know that her regret is well-founded. I believe she is being too hard on herself. But I listen.

Your ‘They will not venture forth because in advance --- they desire to know their fate --- they oppose the test because they insist that from the start the shoe must fit perfectly’ reminds me of her sadness. You have expressed, in a different way, exactly what she is regretting.

The one thing I often take away from my friend’s and my conversations is the fact that I am honored to know someone who looks back on her life in that way. Rather than expressing regrets of a more self-indulgent nature, her regrets are that she didn’t at least attempt to make more of a difference when the opportunity was hers to do so.

I believe that a full half of your essay urges us to do exactly that. And I can’t help but wonder how many among us never experience the ‘revelation’ that my friend is experiencing. How many among us go through life believing the lies that

(1) fleeting, superficial, material matters are sufficient to ensure real security and contentment
(2) there is no power in the thoughts, actions, or resolve of one
(3) the rules of the game are immutable, and generally written by a select few

Your ‘truth is, that no shoe is perfect, and the challenge is, to go forth and try to adhere to the path anyway. You may not amble along very well, but life is a test of what effort you will make of it’ is a superb observation. I would add one small codicil: If the path just doesn’t feel right – and if it appears to have been well-worn, and time-worn, by countless unfocused, distracted travelers -- consider making your own, and allowing those who are so inclined to follow it, too. Not ever for the mere novelty of discovering a new route -- but to offer a brighter, straighter (a la your Washington reference), truer journey option than existed before.

I (along with about half a dozen others) am beginning initial preparations for a missions trip to Liberia in November. One of the basic, hard-hitting things we have asked ourselves in our first preliminary planning sessions is, ‘What exactly do we expect to accomplish?’ The answer that we have come up with more than all others is pretty much embodied in your italics above: we hope to at least plant a small seed in those with whom we come in contact -- a sense that, despite the sometimes brutal, unpredictable, inhospitable political/government climate in which they live, there is always reason for hope, provided they recognize that the burdens and trials under which they live need not extinguish their efforts to rise above, and even change, them.

Something must be done about it … So they wait …

A powerful message, so simply said. How many of us, in this supposedly ‘progressive’ society, embrace that passive, waiting philosophy? Answer: Way too many.

Rarely thinking that the do-er could be they. Rarely expending the time or effort to discover a solution, or blaze a new path. So they wait …and someone else takes the reins. The problem is, the rein-takers aren’t always those with noble motives, or worthy credentials.

All of this puts me in mind of an often-quoted remark by Samuel Adams, which can’t be repeated enough (until and unless it becomes a part of our national psyche once again):

It does not require a majority to prevail, but rather an irate, tireless minority keen to set brush fires in people's minds.

Thank you, Mike, for the powerful, (almost poetic) allusions … and for your inextinguishable resolve.

~ joanie

749 posted on 05/25/2004 11:13:41 PM PDT by joanie-f (Pat Toomey ... his time will come ...)

Your tagline tells a part of your story. Thank you for being one of those people who practice what they preach. There is always hope when there are still people around who don't accept things like they are.

You have freepmail.

750 posted on 05/26/2004 6:01:27 AM PDT by SiliconValleyGuy

If the path just doesn’t feel right – and if it appears to have been well-worn, and time-worn, by countless unfocused, distracted travelers -- consider making your own, and allowing those who are so inclined to follow it, too. Not ever for the mere novelty of discovering a new route -- but to offer a brighter, straighter (a la your Washington reference), truer journey option than existed before.

Great points as always, Joanie.

751 posted on 05/28/2004 2:13:04 PM PDT by CharliefromKS

To: ForGod'sSake

Hey FGS...who are them folks behind 'Dru and the Sultan?!

FReegards...MUD

752 posted on 10/01/2004 2:29:14 PM PDT by Mudboy Slim (Girleymen HATE Bush!!)

Hey FGS...who are them folks behind 'Dru and the Sultan?!

Oh I dunno; got anybody in mind???

FGS

753 posted on 10/01/2004 8:10:48 PM PDT by ForGod'sSake (ABCNNBCBS: An enemy at the gates is less formidable, for he is known and carries his banner openly.)

BTW, I need to repost that pic because I made some changes and resized it some so it don't look quite right:

FGS

754 posted on 10/01/2004 8:16:20 PM PDT by ForGod'sSake (ABCNNBCBS: An enemy at the gates is less formidable, for he is known and carries his banner openly.)

To: ForGod'sSake

"...got anybody in mind???"

I dunno, but I reckon somebody's gotta be worthy...MUD

755 posted on 10/01/2004 9:43:44 PM PDT by Mudboy Slim (Girleymen HATE Bush!!)

To: ForGod'sSake; Landru; MeekOneGOP

"I need to repost that pic"

Thanks, but it still looks like 'Dru's flexin' his left biceps...MUD

756 posted on 10/01/2004 9:47:08 PM PDT by Mudboy Slim (Girleymen HATE Bush!!)

To: ForGod'sSake; Landru; MoJo2001; Diva Betsy Ross; Marysecretary; nopardons; Howlin

"Kerry!!"
(To be sung to Patsy Cline's "Crazy")

Kerry...yer crazy believin' yer homeboys...
John Kerry's...crazy believin' Left's "news"!!
John knew...SlickWillie's The One the RATS Wanted!!
And that someday...Slick'll beat him like yesterday's gruel!!

Kerry...why do you think yerself worthy?!
Prez'dents...must see the World via Truth!!
Ohhh...Kerry, yer drinkin' the good stuff...be BOLD, fool!!
Left's crazy fer buyin' Hanoi John's vile lyin'...
And Left's crazy to love Klintoon...ah ah ahh...

Kerry...was thinkin' that Dean's love would lift him...
John Kerry's a'lyin', but US Voters ain't buyin'...
Yes, "BEAT KERRY!!"'s the Golden Rule!!

Mudboy Slim (04/27/2004)

757 posted on 10/02/2004 4:07:07 PM PDT by Mudboy Slim (Girleymen HATE Bush!!)

That is really good Mud! Now how do I get that song outta my head??? She was one of a kind...

FGS

758 posted on 10/02/2004 8:36:30 PM PDT by ForGod'sSake (ABCNNBCBS: An enemy at the gates is less formidable, for he is known and carries his banner openly.)

Another MUD special treat! I had to laugh when I saw your Unfit book remark. I went to BJ's in Utica yesterday and someone had put Unfit over Bill Clinton's book on two stacks and another book over a Fahrenheit 911 book. Was it a FReeper? Fess up!

759 posted on 10/04/2004 7:36:51 AM PDT by Marysecretary (GOD is STILL in control, even if Bush loses in 2004!)

You'd asked if I'd FReeped any Elvis...here's one...

"SlickWillie LIES!! (under oath)"
(To be sung to Elvis Presley's "Suspicious Minds")

Slick's just like The Clap...Slick Won't Stay Out...
Becuz Bill Loves US sooo much, Ladies!!
Folks, won't you see?! EX-Prez'dent Clinton's "Guilty!!"
Networks LIE...don't believe a word Left's sayin'!!

We must DETHRONE Bill Clinton...must CONVICT Slick's LIES!!
(IMPEACH Left's LIES....)**
Folks, we can't build our "bridge" when OUR EX-Prez'dent's LIES!!
So, c'mon FReepers, let's go!! Right's gotta DETHRONE Left's 'HO!!
We gonna teach DemLib'rals 'bout OUR Rights!!
'Cuz once we DETHRONE Slick...and keep Ol' Dubyuh in,
Slick'll spend many years in Jail fer SPYIN"!!
(Folks, keep fightin'....)**
World shall go on without Slick...Tyranny's Left's CRIME!!
(Slick we'll INDICT!!)**
We'll shatter all Left's dreams...De-Brainwash Left's Minds!!
Left retails Fear and Lies...Fer OUR Country We Shall Fight!!
We won't let Liberty die...Seek Justice, you know just what we gotta do!!
Ummm...uhmmmm...yeah...yeah...

Slick's caught in our TRAP...let's FReep him down!!
Becuz a Traitor Can't Be Prez'dent!!
It's so clear to me...gotzta Fight to be FRee!!
(Ooh-ahhh-oooohh)**
Don't y'all care what yer grandchildren/forefathers say?!

Now, FReepers, SING IT!!
Slick's Caught in OUR Trap!!...Slick We'll INDICT!!
Limbaugh Shall Sing the Truth, sweet Nation!!
Ohhh...can't just feel it?!
Slick's just like The Clap...gotta cut him out...
(Repeat...fade to finish)

Thank ya...thankyaverymuch...MUD

760 posted on 11/01/2004 12:59:49 PM PST by Mudboy Slim (Girleymen HATE Bush!!)

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